In the sixth episode of HBO’s Lanterns, one of DC’s most iconic heroes was mentioned: Batman. Tossing in a nod to the Dark Knight is no small thing, and Lanterns showrunner Chris Mundy told GamesRadar+ what was involved in making that happen. Turns out, not much.
Batman in Lanterns
“There were shockingly fewer conversations than you would think,” Mundy explained. “It was in [the episode] right before it. John talks about some giant squid in Metropolis. And Kerry is from Gotham, which gets name-checked in episode 2. We wanted to make sure that we were name-checking the world, just because there is a greater world out there, that we wanted to say it was a real thing for our characters, and we didn’t wanna make a big deal about it, in a strange way.“
The reference finds Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) dissing Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) while chatting with John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), who he claims “ripped off that Bat-guy from Gotham. Put a beacon right in the middle of the f***ing town here, so people can summon him.“
This marks the first reference to Batman in a live-action DCU series, although he was seen, albeit briefly, in an episode of Creature Commandos. Peacemaker did talk about Batman in the first season of his own show, but at the time, he was still part of the DCEU.
As far as Lanterns goes, it’s likely the show will return for another season, as it has become one of HBO Max’s biggest. You can check out a review of the first season from our own Alex Maidy right here.
Batman in the DCU
Aside from those very brief nods, we’re still no closer to having Batman in the DCU. He’s meant to take center stage in The Brave and the Bold, but the project is slow to come together. Andy Muschietti is still slated to direct the film, with Christina Hodson writing the script. And despite plenty of possibilities, we still don’t know who will actually be playing the Dark Knight in the DCU.
It also doesn’t help that Matt Reeves is in the middle of his Batman trilogy. The Batman: Part II is now filming and is slated for a February 18, 2028 release.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed